Finnish plywood manufacturer Koskisen is the “first” company, as reported by Stora Enso, to start using the biobased binder NeoLigno by Stora Enso in its new sustainable product family. Koskisen and Stora Enso’s cooperation has resulted in a biobased furniture board, called Zero Furniture Board.
NeoLigno is a binder made from lignin, a fully biobased organic polymer that comes from wood. According to Stora Enso, they ensure that the wood they use comes from sustainably managed, traceable forests with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) chain-of-custody and ISO 14001 certifications.
Koskisen uses the NeoLigno to replace fossil-based resins used in furniture boards. Both the furniture board raw material and the binder are sourced from the production process flows of both companies. This results in all raw materials of the Zero board being entirely biobased. Koskisen is also the first company to utilise NeoLigno in industrial production.
”Our new Zero product family meets the rising demand for biobased solutions from both domestic and export markets. These new products allow furniture manufacturers to offer alternatives with improved sustainability and health security,” said Timo Linna, head of Product Management and R&D, Koskisen.
Previously, as a byproduct of the pulp industry, lignin has been typically utilised as bioenergy in energy production. NeoLigno serves as an example of how Stora Enso increases the value of lignin without increasing the use of wood.
“Stora Enso has been refining lignin commercially since 2015. NeoLigno is our first own binder that replaces fossil-based adhesives,” said Lauri Lehtonen, head of innovation of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division.
The Zero Furniture Board will be commercially available in Q3 2022.
